Greetings,

Just curious... Do Mini dealers offer discounts or do most buyers pay full list price?

Thanks, Glenn :smile: :smile: :smile:

 

At least MSRP. Some pay higher on the US West coast. Many in that situation order from a dealer more east and then either pick it up or have it shipped.

 

Nop Yup

 

Expect to pay AT LEAST full MSRP. MINIs, even after almost 3 years since they were first introduced in the US, are still pretty much hot cars in high demand, so no discounts or rebates are given on them.

Also keep in mind that MINI's astronomical resale values are partly thanks to the fact that BMW has limited production, increased the quality and have not resorted to massive discounts/rebates to sell them.

When you have a product in high demand, you will pay top dollar for it. It is a basic law of economics.

The MINI at full retail MSRP sticker price is still a BARGAIN, considering the engineering, quality, design, driving experience, safety features and high resale values.

If you are going after discounts/rebates, then look no further to your neighboorhood GM family of dealerships which currently are having a "Red Tag" sale with new vehicles that lose as much as 30%-40% off their original MSRP when they are first driven off the lot.

Then ask yourself this question? Do I want quality (MINI at full MSRP) or quantity (GM or other slow selling vehicles at full discount/rebates/poor resale value)?

The choice is yours. Best of luck.

 

Plus there was a $500 increase that went into effect today. However, this does not apply to vehicles that hit dealers lots up until yesterday.

Several dealers have stocked up on cars (MINI of Towson in MD just bought the inventories of Crown MINI and Checkered Flag MINI) that are unaffected by the price increase.

 

Be aware that some places on the East coast still will charge you a "dealer markup" fee... usually around $500. Shop around and you will find some places that won't charge that... that's what I did... I had to fly to West Palm Beach, but saved that money, got free floor mats, and got a great 200 mile drive back to Tampa... that means I only have 1050 more miles to go for the break-in!!!

Q

 

I agree completely, with a MINI you've getting tons of value for the buck! A great buy even at MSRP, believe it or not. (...no need to pay over that, though.)

 

Love the sig Mr. V

 

So, if I ordered in December, and the car is being built this month, did my price go up? I have a printed price from the dealer. I guess I could read it to see if there were any disclaimers, but that would suck.

 

Get in touch with your Motoring Advisor. Some dealers will tack on the $500 increase just because your new MINI is being delivered on Jan '05 even if it was built the month before.

Check and make sure to avoid an unsavory surprise at the time of delivery.

 

Yes, your price will be going up. Sorry.

From what was explained to me, the sticker with the price increase reflected on it is being printed and placed on the car at the VPC, NOT at the dealer. So the dealer has no control over it.

That's why some dealers are trying (or tried) to pickup the excess inventory sitting in the lots at other dealers. Those cars have stickers from before the price increase and aren't affected...

As for only paying MSRP (+ of course delivery fees, sales tax, and registration) you need to check with the dealer. Some don't charge over MSRP, some may charge over MSRP on certain models (MSRP for hardtop Coopers, over MSRP for Cabrios...) some may charge MSRP but require you to purchase "dealer add-on" items like Invisishield/Clearbra or LoJack.

 

I don't think that is fair, because the price increase should only apply to vehicles manufactured on or after Jan '05, not to vehicles made before the actual price hike went into effect but were delivered on or after Jan 1st.

 

Hey I didn't make the decision.... I'm just reporting what I was told. You could try complaining to MINIUSA, but something tells me they won't be too sympathetic... Sorry.

 

I fully agree that even at full list price, Mini is a good value. Just wanted to get a feeling of where the market was.

Thank you all for your comments....

Regards, Glenn :smile: :smile: :smile:

 

If that is true, it's a change from last year. We ordered in early Dec 03 and picked up our car in Feb 04. We didn't have to pay the $500 increase that happened at the beginning of 04.

 

Including the $550 destination charge, dealer cost vs. MSRP looks like this on a Cooper S:


MSRP 2005 MCS..........$20,449
Dealer Invoice.............$18,842

Dealer Profit ............$1,907

Remember, this is for selling a Cooper S at window sticker. Those 60 or so BMW dealers agreed to a MINI franchise took a huge business risk (selling a tiny car in SUV/Full size truck USA?) and only get around 30 cars per month to retail. It all boils down to supply and demand!

 

I don't understand. Did you pay sticker or below sticker? If you paid below sticker price, well then consider yourself quite lucky.

Again, I don't think dealers do or can make changes directly to the window sticker and print them out. That's why dealers that do markup (not just MINI dealers) have that extra page that goes next to the sticker that details the markup price.

 

When I was thinking of ordering my MCS, our local dealer said they had a waiting list and couldn't guarantee that the car would be delivered before Jan. 1st. And if the car weren't delivered before then, I would have to pay the extra $500. (Plus their $2500 markup - ha, ha!) So they were very upfront about it.

Of course, a dealer can sell the car at any price they want to. (Remember "haggling"?) If a dealer took your order for "x" dollars and didn't mention that the price would go up if it weren't delivered by such and such a date, it would seem to me that they should sell it to you at the agreed-upon price. But maybe that's covered in some sort of fine print if you've got a written contract.

Just my $.02...

 

Does any dealer provide a written contract of any sort when you order your MINI? Every one I've spoken too won't commit to the final price until the car arrives. However, they've always been upfront with me about add-ons, mark-ups and such...

 

We paid Dec 2003 MSRP, but picked up our car in Feb 2004.

MSRP on a Cooper S went up $500 on 1/1/04, just like it did this year (1/1/05).

Based on my experience, people whose cars have an 04 build date, should not have to pay the 05 price increase, even if their cars are delivered in 05. YMMV.

 

Julie at Classic gave us a verbal commitment on the price and faxed us a document with all the options we chose and the price of those options. If you're paying MSRP, it shouldn't be that difficult to get a commitment on the price, should it? All the prices are cookie cutter.

 

I ordered a few weeks ago and received a printed out invoice reflecting the 2004 price even though the car won't be built until the third week of January 2005. I orded options like the convenience package and the web spoke sport package that are only offered on after Jan. 1st builds and they are reflected on my invoice so it's a little odd that the increased price isn't reflected.

If they try to charge me the higher price, I'll have the invoice to prove what I agreed to and if they can't lower their price I'll just insist on that much worth of options thrown in.

I'm not too worried about it.

 

Configue your MINI on the web. If a dealer will not match that price with out extra ADP or manditory Dealer Installed items, it is time to look for another dealer.

The way it should be is like this... you go in with a printout from the web page and you then negociate what dealer installed items they will throw in for free to get you to purchase from them! No Mini should leave the dealer with out bonnet stripes at no cost! Unless you do not want the factory bonnet stripes.

 

Brothers and sisters,
I ordered a 2005 Cooper S in late November... dealer had some December-build cars still available... built on 12/10/04 (we're both Sagittarians), she spent Christmas at sea... presently at "VPC" in Charleston (or somewhere between there and Chicago)... ETA at dealership is January 10. Every step of the process has seemed "accelerated" though, I wouldn't be surprised if my MA contacts me sooner than that.

If you are thinking I've had my expectations managed downright skillfully, you'd be right . I still say I'm gettin' my new toy pretty quick. OK back to my point (I at least started OUT with one, might as well see it through).

Sitting here without my "envelope" I'm STILL positive that the "deal" we made back in November, is still the "deal". I believe that the increase in price - the topic of this somewhat alarming thread - was ALREADY built in to the bottom line, way-back-when at order time. In fact the dealer went to some extra pain to be SURE that his paperwork reflected the EXACTLY CORRECT price. Put another way, they know the "timing" from the start.

The dealer and I re-visited these numbers on a couple occasions (I love productive loitering at the MINI dealership ), when I was pestering them to beat whatever my current best financing rate was at the time (*they beat it handily and we're all very happy - a couple hours of "homework" netted me a few hundred bucks in savings, for (sigh, premium) fuel :smile: ).

Anyhow, I will scream bloody murder in public (and also on NAM's Dealer Ratings) if the "deal" changes at the 11th hour, regardless of any nonsense about "they're legally allowed to do that (surprise $500 price bump), at delivery time". I do not at ALL expect that to happen, and if things work differently in MBab's neck of the woods I completely apologize and mean no disrespect.

This seems like one of those "threads that make you go hmmmm". I can just see all the emails to our MA's whizzing by overhead .

Everything will be allright, and now we should go back to helping our children remember to share their toys,

Tatt

And no, I didn't make "give me some patience, right NOW" a new year's resolution - that would be setting myself up for massive failure.

 

I would bet that the $500 price increase was already factored in... It's not exactly news, it was first announced back in September...